NIU coach Carol Owens hoped to build off her team’s win over Akron last week.

The Huskies looked to have everything in their favor as they played at home and Ohio’s leading scorer, Simone Redd, was out with an undisclosed injury. But the Bobcats found enough points off the bench to steal the win, 74-62.

“I think we’re playing pretty good,” Ohio coach Lynn Bria said. “Any time you can get one game on the road it’s a bonus. This was a big win for us.”

Without Redd, Ohio needed someone to step up and score some points. Sophomore forward Lauren Revesz was more than willing to answer the call with a career-high 26 points for the Bobcats.

The Huskies got their boost from several players throughout the game.

NIU guard Jessie Wilcox scored seven points in the first half and hit a three pointer with seven minutes left in the first half to give NIU a 21-20 lead. Junior forward Kristin Wiener also chipped in with seven points.

And after Wilcox’s three, it seemed like the momentum started to shift toward NIU, but the Huskies had no answer on defense.

Revesz, with the help of teammate Quintana Ward’s nine points, gave Ohio a 34-30 lead at the end of the first half.

After a rough first half, NIU guard Stephanie Raymond decided to make some noise early in the second. The Huskies’ first nine points of the second half came either from Raymond’s scoring or assists.

But while the Huskies produced on the offensive end, the defense still struggled.

“It was miscommunication on defense from our part,” Raymond said.

The defensive breakdowns allowed many open looks for the Bobcats.

NIU got into foul trouble early in the second half, which lead to 24 free throw attempts for Ohio, 21 of which were made.

Overall, the Bobcats made 25 of 30 from the charity stripe.

Raymond twice had a chance to cut into the lead in the second half with two open threes, but missed both and the Huskies couldn’t recover.

“We missed a lot of easy lay-ups,” Wiener said. “They also outhustled us for a lot of loose balls.”

The loss is the Huskies’ second-straight at home after starting the season at 4-1.

“We have to have more pride on our homecourt, step up and have a lot more intensity,” Raymond said.